Meal Planning Monday - holiday/Olympic/August edition

I wasn't really sure what to call this, as you can tell. Normal routine has gone out of the window, what with scrapbooking, watching the Olympics and not a lot else really. Mostly watching the Olympics! The week reflects my need not to make anything too complicated. Sunday, we are having tapas to celebrate (and commiserate the closing ceremony of the Olympics, that I really don't want to end).

Here we go.

Monday - Sweet mustard salmon with garlicky veg (held over from last week)
Tuesday - Sausages with sweet mustard onions
Wednesday - Spicy root and lentil casserole
Thursday - Prosciutto and pesto fish gratin
Friday - Homemade burgers and wedges
Saturday - keeping free
Sunday - Tapas

Don't forget, there are more Meal Planning Monday entries over at Mrs M's place but do tell me what you're  having this week.

Meal Planning Monday

This is going to be my last Meal Planning Monday post before back to school week. Next week, I'm going to be travelling around for a few days, then we're going to be in Devon on our holiday and although we are self-catering, I'm not packing recipe books so I'll be sticking to old favourites that I can cook without thinking.

Meal Planning Monday

Lordy, these weeks come around so fast. Last week's plan went largely to it - so well, in fact, I had to scrabble around for something to make today which I managed (chicken and sweetcorn pie if you're wondering).

Onto this week's plan. Here it is.

Monday - Chicken biryani bake (from the freezer)
Tuesday - Sweet and sour lentil dhal with grilled aubergine
Wednesday - Italian meat loaf
Thursday - Courgette and orzo bake
Friday - Mini-burgers and homemade potato wedges
Saturday - Tapas tea (we'll be supporting Barcelona in the Champions League final.
Sunday - Chicken curry

Some new things to try and some easy things - having to make the meatloaf in advance because I am probably away on Wednesday night so I need to make something that can just be placed in the oven.  I am most looking forward to tapas on Saturday. There's no fish this week but I'm trying to empty the freezer to defrost it and have no fish left in it!

Why not pop over to Mrs M's blog for more meal planning entries?

The Five Fs recommends... Barcelona

As you will have noticed from my Gallery post, we've just come back from Barcelona. Well, actually it was just the three of us - Missy Woo went to stay with her Granny for a few nights, so it was just us and Monkey. I thought I'd do a post recommending various places based on each of the five Fs that this blog is (mostly) about. These are purely personal recommendations - everything I've mentioned is purely because we love them.

Firstly, we have family. Barcelona is generally family friendly as the Spanish love children. Monkey got in the way of a few passing pedestrians and the worst he got in return was an indulgent smile and a ruffle of his hair. Getting around is not too bad, even for those still in the buggy years, thanks to copious lifts on the Metro system. My main recommendation in this category is The Patio B&B. It has only two rooms so it's perfect for families who can take over the place therefore not disturb anyone nor be disturbed. It is amazingly quiet, save the distant rumble of Metro trains passing through the tube station across the road - it's located at the back of an apartment block and is surrounded by buildings on all sides. Traffic noise is often a problem when staying in Barcelona so a quiet retreat is great, especially when you have children. What really makes it for me are the owners, Liz and Tony. Liz is English and is a source of lots of information and great help to make your stay run smoothly. She was great with Monkey too, who benefited to the tune of several chocolate bars! A stay there is so relaxed; our second stay there was as good as the first, if not better. We'll be going back.

Our view last Saturday

Then, there is football. You can't really go to Barcelona and not visit the Nou Camp, can you? The Nou Camp experience is the most popular museum in Barcelona but not that good for children - Monkey spent only half an hour there before he got bored. However, actually going to a match is a different experience but not a particularly straightforward one. Let me offer a few tips:

• Although the fixtures for a weekend are known months in advance, kick off times are not decided until 2 weeks beforehand which makes planning difficult. Kick off times can be anything from 6pm until 10pm, 9pm on Sunday so small children might need to stay up, but it's worth it for those who are into football, plus it makes a Sunday night flight home impossible if you are planning a trip.
  
• Season ticket holders can sell their tickets back to the club for resale if they cannot attend a match. This means tickets become available at any time and is the only way you can buy tickets for most areas. If you can't get what you want straight away, keep trying. You may not be able to get tickets together, particularly in a large group but you can often swop once you get inside. Tickets cost between 32-102 euro, more for bigger games.
  
• If you want to buy tickets in advance of travelling, buy your tickets from servicaixa.com - we tried several times over to book tickets from the FC Barcelona site and it wouldn't let us. A phone call to Spain pointed us at this site and it actually worked.
  
• If you do book tickets online, you still have to turn up with the card you used and some photo ID to collect tickets. I spent an hour queueing (and I use that term loosely) to collect our tickets because we did so on match day. If you can go on another day to collect, you'll probably wait a lot less! You can also collect from ServiCaixa terminals of La Caixa bank - IF you can find one.
  

• Finally, get there early. The layout of the stadium is not straightforward and they send you in an access door which forces you to walk round to your "boca" (block).. and then the odd numbered seats are one side of the aisle, and the evens the other! And be prepared for a crush on the Metro on the way home after, or walk if you're feeling up to it.

Next, we have food. I have to be honest here and say we discovered nowhere new this time. Our itinerary didn't really allow it. We apply the following rules when selecting where to eat:

- nice outdoor chairs; plastic ones are a total no-no
- the bar must stock Amaretto; not my guideline and this is not always strictly applied!
- there must be no pictures of the food, especially the dayglo ones that are supposed to make it look more appetising but fail
- never, ever buy anything to eat, other than perhaps an ice cream, on the Ramblas, it'll be expensive rubbish

Most of our eating occurred in two small chains where we've had some great tapas. The first is Tapa Tapa, which I've visited every time I've been to Barcelona and our first meal this time was down at their restaurant in Maremagnum, where we sat outside at Monkey's insistence. (I know they are environmentally unfriendly, but thank God for patio heaters!) We had some stunning calamari there, and tried some black rice with allioli which was gorgeous. The second was Taller de Tapas where we had some great patatas bravas and a tapa of spinach, pancetta and chickpeas, an old favourite of ours. We were very happy when we discovered there is one close to the Nou Camp so we stopped there before we went to the match.

And a special mention for Buenas Migas as a great stop off point for coffee and cake, or their great foccaccia. Husband managed to steer us in the direction of the branch behind the cathedral as he wanted some of their flapjack with yogurt but we also discovered their salami dolce this time around which is enough for two to share! I think we've pretty much visited all the branches in the city in our time and they're always good.

So, we're onto fitness. Strangely, I don't have too many things to say about that. You walk in Barcelona. A lot. Even if you go by Metro, you walk. You soon discover that most line changes actually involve a walk of around half a mile. It's generally pleasant walking in Barcelona if you can avoid the crowds (in which case, give the Ramblas a miss at busy times although you have to experience it once). But if you really want a fitness challenge, perhaps consider entering the Barcelona Marathon. The scenery is stunning and it's only 50 euro to register which is much cheaper than, say, the London Marathon. And it's much quieter too - only 13,000 out of 15,000 registered started last Sunday although it has grown rapidly in recent years, meaning you will get a place rather than having to go through a ballot.

Monkey and Miró

Finally, fun! There is actually quite a lot for children to do in Barcelona. An aquarium for starters, which we didn't get time to visit, nor CosmoCaixa (a science museum) a bit out of the city centre. There are also tons of smaller parks, but Monkey discovered his favourite on our final day. It's Parc Joan Miró, where there is huge Miró statue which totally dwarfed Monkey, but also extensive play areas for different ages of children as well as football pitches and basketball courts. It has a café too, so parents are catered for whilst their children run off some steam. Perfect.

We have been to Barcelona many times, and we will no doubt go again. It never fails as a great place to visit and now Monkey loves it as much as we do. As I said at the start, I've recommended these places I've mentioned here purely because we love them. If you go to Barcelona and try them out, we hope that you will too.

Tapas Tea

We love tapas in this house. If we go to Spain, we virtually live on it - either hopping from bar to bar, or sitting down and trying all manner of stuff in one place. Over time, we have found particular favourite dishes but have also had some fabulously different ones - like the spinach, bacon and chickpeas we ate sat in Plaça del Pi in Barcelona one sunny day, a dish that sticks in my mind to this day. And there is the awful, like the Russian salad we had in Poble Espanyol, also in Barcelona, which was so bad, it was funny. Never believe anyone that tells you that you can be served bad food is the UK. You can get it anywhere.

At home, we go to the usual chains if we want a tapas fix but occasionally, we like to have tapas for tea on a Saturday. This is a special treat for all of us and is usually timed to coincide with some Spanish football on the telly as we are big fans and have been to matches in 5 different grounds in Spain. Tonight has been one such time. There was a triple header of matches on and as it's holiday time, the children stayed up a little late. So, we had tapas for tea in the living room, watching the Barcelona game.

Tapas is great to cook as the dishes are small, so simple to cook and quick to prepare. Some don't require "cooking" at all - it's a case of putting some lovely ingredients on a plate. This morning, Monkey and Missy Woo came out with me to Booths to buy some of them. We bought Manchego cheese, some jamòn (ham), and some chorizo sausage (see below). The cheese is just cut into thin slices and put on a plate with some slices of tomato. Same with the jamòn. I drizzle some nice olive oil on top if I'm feeling fancy. (I wasn't today, in case you're wondering).

The rest of the menu was all fairly simple. We had:

Ensalada rusa - Russian salad. This requires bit of cooking in advance but not much. I peel and dice a medium size potato and place in boiling water in a pan with about 400g frozen mixed veg (the sort where the veg are quite small) and cook according to the packet instructions. At the same time, I hard-boil a couple of eggs, cool and shell them. Once the veg is cooked, I pour into a bowl and allow to cool. I add a tin of tuna which I've flaked to the bowl, with chopped hard-boiled egg. Then, I add in enough mayonnaise (I use low fat) to cover everything and stir together. Then I place in the fridge as it's best nicely cold. In Spain, they always put mini breadsticks in the top. I only do that if I have some in. I actually made double today as it keeps well in the fridge.

Gambas al ajillo - garlic prawns. Just some prawns fried in olive oil until they turn pink with some garlic added to the oil. Careful not to burn the garlic or it tastes bitter.

Chorizo al vino - chorizo in red wine. I slice the chorizo sausage and cook in a hot pan to render the fat, and let them sizzle for a while, turning occasionally. Once they are looking "cooked", I add some red wine to the pan and let it reduce a bit.

Meatballs - I cheat for this! I always have catering packs of Ikea style Swedish meatballs in the freezer, so I just use those and microwave them at the last minute. Proper albondigas are a mixture of minced meat and spices, and they can either be simply fried or cooked in a tomatoey sauce. I prefer my way just to keep it quick and simple.

Spanish omelette - tortilla española. This is the most involved dish of all but worth it as it is fantastic hot and cold. I have tried many recipes but this seems most successful. I peel, halve and slice 2-3 medium onions and peel and thinly slice about 300g potatoes, then heat about 2 tbsp olive oil in a medium deep frying pan until it's smoking. I add the potatoes and onions then immediately turn the heat down, stirring to coat everything in the oil. These are then cooked, covered for about 25 - 30 mins - the idea is to cook them slowly without browning but I rarely manage that - shaking the pan occasionally and turning everything over at least once. Whilst they are cooking, I crack 5-6 eggs in a bowl and beat together, then season with pepper. Once the potatoes and onions are cooked, I add them and mix with the eggs. The pan gets wiped out, put back on a medium heat and more oil added. Once the oil is heated, everything is tipped back into the pan and the heat turned back down. I leave it to cook for about 20 mins on the lowest of heats, occasionally running around the edge with a fish slice, until most of the egg on top has set. At this stage, I put the grill on high and put the whole pan under it. (If you're clever, you can slide the tortilla out of the pan onto a plate and then flip it back into the pan.) It only needs a couple of mins under a grill before it's browned and ready. The Spanish love it in sandwiches - if you go a La Liga match of an evening, the sound of foil being unwrapped from sandwiches at half time is deafening, particularly if you go to places like the San Mamés in Bilbao or the Anoeta in San Sebastián.

And that's it! None of it terribly complicated, most of it pretty quick to make, but a bit heavy on the washing up - thank goodness for dishwashers! I do a lot of wiping out and reusing of pans, plus there is a last minute scramble with the hot things, not unlike finishing off a roast dinner and trying to get everything ready at the same time. There are more complicated recipes but we don't find we need anything fancy. The only other thing I often make is patatas bravas - for which I make jacket wedges in the oven and a spicy sauce on top. I accidentally discovered that mixing barbeque sauce with mayonnaise gives the closest result to what you can get in most parts of Spain.



Before I go, handy hint for you if you do tapas at home. Write a list of what you're making, because it's really easy to forget something in the last few minutes. Many's the time I've found something in the fridge uneaten afterwards. Doh!